Tom,

Here are two possibilities that should be easy to try without breaking the 
bank.

Try them at the school with the weakest signal first.

The problem, as I'm sure you probably know, is that the built in antenna is 
getting lots of noise from the computers in the office. Plus, windows may be 
on the wrong side of the building, etc.

The more simple approach is to try a magnetic mount quarter wave or 5 eights 
wave mobile antenna sitting on top of a file cabinet. If this works, the 
coax run can be very short, and can be easily hidden behind a plant, the 
cabinet, etc.

If that doesn't work, you will need the assistance of the maintenance crew.

Ask them if they can take that same antenna into either the suspended 
ceiling of the office, or into the attic. In either location, there should 
be plenty of places to sit the magnet.

Have them try the antenna in 2 or 3 different overhead places if necessary.

This will, of course, require a longer coax run, which maintenance will also 
need to handle once you agree on the permanent location for the antenna.

To keep it simple and economical, stick with rg58 coax for these trials. 
That will probably be enough for the permanent solution too.

If you get lucky, there may be some of those BNC connector wall plates left 
over from early network connections, with a coax run still attached to them. 
That will greatly simplify the coax run into the overhead.

Speaking of that old coax, telephone lines, etc, I'm convinced that 
somewhere in my office, there is one piece of old cable that when tugged on, 
will bring down the building as though it was one of those large knots you 
see at a carnival. You know that really large knot that you pay for a chance 
to grab 2 strings and pull to see if it comes undone?


Mike Duke, K5XU